FELDA: RURAL TO INTERIOR MIGRATIONS

After independence in 1957, rubber estates were gradually sold off because the colonialists felt insecure of their investments if their properties would be nationalised. To facilitate such, the estates were fragmented into smaller pieces making them affordable to more buyers especially the Chinese. Overnight the Chinese as a whole became owners of large tracts of fertile and productive land.

The (rural) Malay villagers located around estates eke their living on small plots of marginal land for the good land had been mapped out for estate use earlier. They were in no position to buy the plots of fragmented estates for sale. As a result the Malays as a whole became (relatively) of lesser ownership of land. 

Tun Razak in the 60's mooted the idea of opening up virgin jungle land in an organised fashion to allocate 6-8ac/family and bring about transmigration of 'landless' rural population to thus further in the interior.

Opening up jungle by contract work followed by planting and maintenance of rubber (later oil palm also) before allocating plots to family ownerships.

FELDA Jengka Triangle, Pahang - wooden houses were ready built for settlers.

Other essential infrastructures besides good roads are also provided to establish somewhat a closed knit and self sufficient environment - schools, mosques, clinics, shops.

Scene at a  FELDA scheme, 1974. The professionally managed FELDA plantations became a success story. 

The father opened up FELDA but the son, a pretender icon harvest the credit and politicised it. He is noted for multibillion financial misgovernance. 

In trying to do the Jokowi way Brimmer and Flom were seen on a Honda cup  in a demo a couple of days ago. Before that they were jet setting far to undisclosed places!